I have said before that 2017 was the year of the wargame for me as I rediscovered by wargaming roots. But that is not to say I have forgotten the roleplaying game part of my gaming expereince. In 2017, I still managed to get some make a few RPG purchases and get in a few plays.
In March of this year, I listed out my Top 10 RPG games/systems. Looking back, my top 3 (Classic Traveller, Diaspora, and Cepheus Engine) have not changed. In 2017, of the over 50 game products I purchased, about 30% are RPG-related. I definitely focused my RPG purchases on Cepheus Engine with around 90% of the products in that one system.
Gypsy Knights Games continues to support their awesome The Clement Sector setting. In addition to their great Wendy’s Naval-series which lays out the fleet of various subsectors, this year also focused on pirates and uplifts or alterants. All three introduce true grey-areas into the setting morality and can be used to play anything from a campy to dark setting. I like this; GKG has given me many tools to make the setting I want.
Stellagama Publishing also caught my attention with the These Stars Are Ours! setting. I really enjoyed SOLO for Cepheus Engine by Zozer Games. Zozer Games’ Orbital setting remains my favorite, probably because it fits right into and feels like it can support The Expanse.
This year, I pledged to support the Cortex Prime Kickstarter campaign. I am not sure why. I like the Cortex Plus system (especially in Firefly) but I have turned towards smaller rules sets (like Cepheus Engine) and settings that are more controlled by me. This is why I passed on purchasing the new Genesys rules from Fantasy Flight Games.
In early December, Zozer Games released their new rules/setting called Hostile for Cepheus Engine. This “Gritty Sci-Fi RPG” draws heavily from popular franchises like Alien or movies like Outland. The setting is right in my wheelhouse and it certainly deserves its own deeper dive in the near future (no pun intended).
To put in another way, in 2017 I found my own version of the Old School Renaissance. My “OSR” game in this case is Cepheus Engine. This year I turned my back on settings with voluminous new rules and a well defined IP-based setting like Star Trek Adventures.
I know my RPG tastes are not mainstream; I am not a Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition fan nor have I dug deeper into the Star Wars Roleplaying Game. In 2017, as wargames and family boardgames grew in popularity in the RockyMountainNavy house, something else in my gaming world had to give. I have given up a lot of RPG experiences, but by keeping to a simple rules system with wonderful setting support I still find a way to keep my RPG gaming going.
Rocky Mountain Navy Gamer 